The present invention relates to a non-slip artificial stone. More specifically, the invention relates to a lightweight, high-hardness, high-strength, and high-density artificial stone which has the granite-like or marble-like excellent sense of touch, excellent characteristics such as good surface hardness and surface resistance to friction and in addition, non-slip properties that one can walk on the surface of the stone without slipping (sliding). The invention provides a non-slip artificial stone useful as building materials for flooring, bathrooms, toilet rooms, kitchens, and other uses and members for public facilities for the passages of underground markets, staircases, and the platforms of railroads.
The preparation of artificial stones has hitherto been known wherein natural stones are pulverized into appropriated sizes, blended with calcium carbonate and resins, and then cured.
For such artificial stones, efforts are made to realize massive granite-like or marble-like surfaces with transparency and depth by improvement in composition or process for the preparation of the stones.
On the other hand, the studies of improvement in functions of the artificial stones also are carried out together with attempts for the aforesaid improvement.
In almost all of conventional artificial stones, however, artificial stones that have the marble-like massive depth on the surfaces and also the transparency as well and are sufficient in strength, hardness and endurance as stone materials have not yet been realized. Furthermore, the improvement in functions is quite a future problem.
Under these circumstances, the present inventors have developed an artificial stone that is substantially different from the conventional artificial stones in composition and physical properties and novel in color tones and physical properties in spite of very small amounts of resin blended. The inventors have made efforts to provide further novel functions to the artificial stone and to enlarge the uses thereof.
In the course of this investigation, the inventors have found that as well as artificial stones whose surfaces are polished in the condition of a mirror plane, artificial stones having non-slip properties where one can walk on the surfaces without slipping (sliding) also are important from the viewpoint of the function and uses thereof.
The reason for this is that in the flooring of buildings, the flooring of bathrooms, the staircases and passages in buildings or streets, the platforms of railroads, the flooring or public facilities, less slipperiness of the surfaces thereof is an important function and an indispensable problem from the viewpoint of safety and disaster prevention. In the artificial stones, furthermore, the non-slip properties thereof have hardly been investigated in fact.
Accordingly, the inventors have intensively studied to realize an artificial stone which meets requirements for strength or hardness in flooring, staircases, passages, streets, platforms or railroads, and floor of public facilities, presents a view finer than natural stone materials and in addition, has the non-slip properties as described above.
Under the aforesaid circumstances, the invention aims at providing a novel artificial stone that has a tight structure as products, transparency and depth, marble-like excellent color tone, large strength and hardness, good molding properties, and also non-slip properties.
For solving these problems, the invention provides a high-density artificial stone having non-slip properties, which is characterized in that an inorganic particle component comprises 82 to 93 weight percent and a resin component comprises 7 to 18 percent of the total weight of the product and that the proportion of a resin-exposed area to a unit surface area of 50 mm in lengthxc3x9750 mm in width is from 15 percent or more to 40 percent or less.
In addition, the invention also provides a non-slip artificial stone characterized in that the surface roughness of the aforesaid artificial stone is from 0.05 to 2 mm or more on the average.
Furthermore, the invention also provides a process for preparing the respective artificial stones as described above.